Crime Watch: Broadway Apple Bank Branch Robbed

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Bank Robbery of the Week Continuing a pattern of small-time bank robberies in the 20th Precinct, a man robbed an Apple Bank branch on Broadway in the middle of the day last Monday. The perpetrator wrote on a deposit slip and handed it to a teller, but instead of the standard account info, the slip read "This is a bank robbery, large bills only, no dye packs." The man, described as black Hispanic, 5-foot-7, wearing blue jeans, a red collared shirt and a red baseball cap, fled the scene with a sack of cash, escaping on foot. The police canvas turned up no suspects. Stolen from Shutterbug A local professional photographer was dismayed to discover last week that someone had broken into his car and stolen a large black bag filled with expensive camera equipment. The front window had been smashed in, and the unknown perp absconded with $22,000 worth of photography loot. Very Open House A couple was packing up their West End Avenue apartment to move when the wife noticed that her diamond stud earrings were missing. She told police that they had been in a jewelry box in a bedroom closet when they were holding regular open houses from February to April, and she hadn't checked on them since. The sparkly pair was worth $17,800. Short-Changed Mugger A 15-year-old was walking down West 78th Street last week when an older teenager approached him from behind and said, "You have five seconds to empty your pockets." He then stepped in front of the victim to prevent him from fleeing and shoved his hand into the boy's front pocket to dig for valuables. He came up with a whopping $3 in cash and took off. A Friendly Robbery Last Saturday night, a 62-year-old Upper West Side resident was enjoying herself at a local pub, catching the basketball game and tossing back a few. She left to grab some Chinese food and was walking down West 84th Street when a man approached and struck up what she remembers as a "friendly conversation," until it turned violent. The man suddenly hit the poor woman, who, being intoxicated, fell to the ground and injured her left elbow and knee. The perp snatched $200 in cash from his victim and fled. Motorcycle Getaway Last Friday around 2:30 p.m., a witness watched as a couple of beefy guys pulled off a high-end motorcycle heist on Central Park West. The thieves pulled up in a green Plymouth Voyager van with Virginia plates, lifted a Suzuki motorbike into the back and drove off. The 2009 model moped is worth $10,000. Police are still analyzing security camera footage of the theft. Date Night Gets Ugly After finding himself the victim of a nasty blackmail scheme, a local 51-year-old man finally brought the police into a sordid situation. The man told cops that he had been trawling the "women seeking men" section of Craigslist recently, looking for a date for the night. He corresponded with one woman over email, then on the phone, and arranged for her to come to his apartment. After speaking to her again, however, the man said he grew uneasy with her demeanor and cancelled the date, feigning illness. She phoned back and asked to meet, which he declined, then it took a turn toward extortion. An unknown gentleman called the victim demanding he pay $40 for the woman's cab fare. The demand soon escalated to $440, and the perp told him to get cash from the ATM, put it in an envelope marked "Chris" and give it to his doorman for pick up. After the victim agreed and followed through, the perp shook him down twice more for a total of $940 by threatening to break down his door and kill him if he didn't cooperate. The victim put a stop to it by calling the police.